Tesla’s $218M Maxwell acquisition aims to give its batteries a boost

Tesla has got energy storage company Maxwell Technologies within an all-stock deal a deal aimed at helping its batteries are improved by the automaker that was electric and costs as more competitors enter the marketplace.

The deal will appreciate every one of Maxwell’s 45.9 million shares at $4.75. The merger is expected to close in the second quarter of 2019.

“We believe this transaction will be in the highest interests of Maxwell stockholders and offers investors the opportunity to participate in Tesla’s assignment of hastening the advent of sustainable transport and energy,” Maxwell CEO and President Franz Fink stated in a company announcement.

Maxwell Technologies’ main focus has been around ultracapacitors — energy storage devices which could charge and discharge perform at a range of temperatures, and have long working life and high power density. In December, the company sold its own high-definition battery product line to Renaissance Investment Foundation for $55.1 million in cash and up to $15 million in potential future milestone payments.

The secret sauce is Maxwell’s tender electrode technology, which can be utilised to generate the ultracapacitors. The company says can be far cost effective than the electrode technology that is wet and fosters performance.

That application could give Tesla a boost within an increasingly competitive automobile marketplace. A number of automakers are introducing, or even have introduced vehicles including the Jaguar I-PACE, Audi e-tron SUV, Kia Niro EV and the Hyundai Kona.

“We are constantly looking for acquisitions which make sense to the business and support Tesla’rsquo & the planet to hasten;s transition into renewable energy,” a Tesla spokesman said in an emailed statement.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is a fan of uItracapacitors and has viewed the technology as the route that is potential to a breakthrough in battery performance. He tweeted in 2013 that he was planning to do his PhD at Stanford on ultracapacitors.

@yes_andre I'm a huge fan of ultracapacitors. Went to get my PhD at Stanford on them. But we want a breakthrough in energy density…

Tesla has put considerable effort and investment in enhancing its batteries. In 2015, Tesla signed a 5-year exclusive partnership with Jeff Dahn, a leading lithium-ion battery scientist and researcher at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia. The partnership with Tesla will started in June 2016, following Dahn completed another study project.

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